Larry Kleingartner, retired executive director of the National
Sunflower Association, was presented with the NSA Gold Award
during the group’s annual Summer
Seminar in June. The Gold
Award, bestowed upon individuals who have contributed extraordinarily to the overall sunflower
industry, is the Association’s
highest award.
Kleingartner was instrumental
in starting the combined industry- Larry & Nancy Kleingartner
grower organization known as the
National Sunflower Association in 1981 and served as it executive
director until retiring in December of 2011.

Stone This Year’s NSA Scholarship Recipient

North Dakota State University graduate student Alison Stone is
the recipient of a $2,400 Curt Stern Memorial Scholarship from
the National Sunflower Association. The award was presented her
at the 2012 NSA Summer Seminar in June.
Stone, an M.S. degree candidate in the
NDSU Plant Sciences Department, is conducting research within the USDA-ARS
Sunflower and Plant Biology Research Unit
in Fargo. Her current project with Dr. Brent
Hulke is looking at whether sunflower
breeders have been successful tailoring different hybrids to various environments.
Originally from Lakeville, Minn., Stone
Alison Stone
received her undergraduate degree from the
University of Minnesota at Crookston majoring in agricultural
business with a minor in agronomy. After living in Eureka, S.D.,
for five years while working as a sales agronomist for CHS, she

decided to return to school in order to further her career in the sunflower industry. With plans to graduate with her master’s degree
in December of 2013, Stone would like to work in the Upper Midwest in a breeding program within the sunflower industry.

New Herbicide Approved for Sunflower

This past spring, FMC announced the release of BroadAxeTM
herbicide, a potent new tool in the fight against weeds in sunflower. This new herbicide merges the two active ingredients in
Spartan and Dual Magnum into one product, providing growers
with pre-emergence control of grass and broadleaf weeds without
the need for tank mixing. The application is early, up to 14 days
preplant, to pre-emergence up to three days after planting. The
synergy of this mixture offers nearly complete control of some of
the real troublesome weeds, such as pigweeds and kochia as well
as green and yellow foxtail, barnyardgrass, Russian thistle and
common lambsquarters.

Warren New Colo. Sunflower Committee President

The nine-member Colorado Sunflower Administrative Committee (CSAC) has voted to appoint board member Brad Warren
of Keenesburg, Colo., as its new president. Warren, who has been
farming for 15 years, is a 4th generation Colorado farmer who
plants sunflower, wheat and corn. A member of the CSAC since
the fall of 2011, he succeeds Leon Zimbelman, who had served as
president since CSAC’s beginning in 2001. Zimbelman stepped
down from that position earlier this year.

Colorado Assessment Will Not Increase

The proposed increase in the Colorado sunflower assessment
did not pass. The Colorado Sunflower Administrative Committee
(CSAC) received a letter informing them that of the 681 ballots
mailed to Colorado sunflower producers, 77 valid ballots were
counted. Of those, 44 indicated a “No” vote and 33 had voted
“Yes” in regard to the assessment. The CSAC had proposed an increase from the current $0.03/cwt. to up to $0.06/cwt.

U.S. sunflower researchers continue to aggressively pursue solutions to Sclerotinia in 2012. The National Sclerotinia Initiative
approved an allocation of $375,257 for sunflower research projects
for this year. The Initiative was created by Congress 10 years ago
to reduce the impact of this disease on sunflower and other crops.
Sunflower researchers located at the USDA-ARS Northern
Crop Science Laboratory in Fargo, N.D., have been approaching
the disease from a number of angles, including genetics and fungicides. The incorporation of genes from wild annual and perennial
sunflower relatives is one of the key strategies for developing resistance. Identifying resistance includes laboratory, greenhouse
and field testing.
The many cooperating scientists in this extensive project are
located at universities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Iowa, Ohio, Minnesota, Canada and other USDA-ARS laboratories. It is a project of immense importance to the success of U.S.
agriculture in general and sunflower in particular. The Initiative
supports numerous scientists, graduate students and research technicians. Researchers agree that more progress has been made on
this disease in the past five years than the last 50 years combined.

SoL Expands into Large Supermarket Chain

Sunrich Natural’s® non-dairy beverage SoL can now be found
in Giant Eagle supermarkets throughout western Pennsylvania,
Ohio, north central West Virginia and Maryland. More than 130
stores have begun stocking SoL Sunflower Beverage in their nondairy beverage aisles. Giant Eagle, Inc., is one of the nation’s
largest food retailers and distributors and the number one supermarket retailer in the region.
SoL, introduced to the marketplace last fall, is made from sun-

flower seeds sourced from American farms. It is naturally free of
the eight most common food allergens — including soy, dairy,
wheat and tree nuts — making it a choice for the allergin-free consumer. Sunrich Naturals is a SunOpta brand.

GMO Labeling Likely Going Before Calif. Voters

A proposal that would require labels indicating the food contains genetically modified ingredients could go before California
voters. If required signatures submitted by a group called California Right to Know are verified, the measure will be on the ballot in
November in that state.
The movement for GMO labeling seems to be gaining nationally. Earlier this year, the Washington-based Center for Food
Safety submitted a petition with more than a million signatures to
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calling for mandatory nationwide labeling. Proposals, similar to the one in California, are
in the works in 19 states, but have yet to move forward. For now,
all eyes will be on the pending labeling law vote in California. ■

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arkets
Next Marketing Year Likely to Redefine
Meaning of ‘Inelastic Demand’
By Mike Krueger

J

uly temperatures across the U.S. were the
hottest ever, eclipsing the previous alltime highs for July set back in 1936. That
heat was the “coup d’état” for U.S. corn and
soybeans as the drought of 2012 got worse
instead of better as the summer wore on.
The result was unprecedented yield reductions for corn and soybeans in the July and
August USDA estimates. The August 10th
USDA production estimates slashed corn
production a whopping 2.2 billion bushels
and soybean production by an equally startling 358 million bushels. The projected
corn yield of 123.4 bushels per acre will be
the smallest since 1995. Corn ending supplies are projected to be 650 million
bushels, the smallest in many years and the
equivalent of “bin bottoms.” Soybean ending supplies are also forecast to be at “bin
bottom” levels of just 115 million bushels.

It will take high prices
over an extended period
of time to accomplish the
rationing process.
The U.S. drought follows a terrible production season in South America, where
soybean production in Brazil and Argentina
fell far below expectations. It was the poor
South American soybean crop that sponsored the first leg of the 2012 rally in commodity prices because U.S. soybean
supplies were already extremely tight and
demand from China continues to expand.
There was simply no room for error in
Northern Hemisphere crop production. Hot
and dry weather also plagued the Black Sea

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region, with Russia’s wheat production
sharply lower than expected.
The result of the world’s crop production troubles has been new all-time high
prices for corn and soybeans and big price
gains for every other crop, including sunflower. The U.S. and the world will be
faced with an enormous job of rationing. It
will take high prices over an extended period of time to accomplish the rationing
process. The 2012/13 marketing year will
likely redefine the meaning of “inelastic demand.” The USDA was forced to make
major cuts in demand to prevent ending supply estimates from going negative. The
problem is these demand cuts are on paper.
It is the market’s job to transform the paper
cuts into reality. No one knows for certain
what price levels are necessary to accomplish this rationing.
USDA reduced the U.S. soybean crushing and export forecasts to maintain a minimum level of soybean ending supplies. A
reduced crush means reduced soybean oil
production, and that was reflected in the August USDA report. U.S. soybean oil ending
supplies are now expected to be cut by
nearly 40% down to 1.295 million pounds.
World soybean oil ending supplies are projected to drop by nearly one third from the
2011/12 marketing year. This should translate into strong world vegetable oil prices,
including sunflower oil.
Sunflower production in the EU and the
Ukraine will be smaller than expected because of dry weather. The Northern Plains
of the U.S., where most of the sunflower
production is located, fared much better
with the drought than the central and southern Corn Belt, and sunflower yields in this
region should be average or better. USDA
will not release a U.S. sunflower production
estimate until October.
There will be wide-ranging implications
from the U.S. drought and sharply reduced
corn and soybean production coupled with a
declining world wheat crop. Markets will
remain very volatile, but prices should also
remain at very high levels, at least until
there is some certainty that soybean production in South America will rebound significantly in 2013. In fact, the soybean market
is already anticipating record soybean crops
in both Brazil and Argentina three to four
months before those crops are even planted.
It will also mean the market will again need
more planted acres of every crop and strong
yields to rebuild supplies.
■
Mike Krueger is owner of The Money
Farm, a Casselton, N.D.-based grain
marketing consulting firm. While the
information in this article is believed to
be reliable, marketing involves risk, and
the author and The Sunflower

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

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chronicling the negative health effects of
those characteristics. The snack food sector
— especially industry giant Frito-Lay —
was particularly interested in the development and availability of healthier vegetable
oils for its products.
Into that environment came NuSun, a
mid-oleic oil with a saturated fat content of
just 9% (compared to 11% for traditional
sun oil, 13% for corn oil, 15% for soybean
oil and 27% for cottonseed oil). NuSun’s
oleic content, which ran in the 55-70%
range, made it a very stable frying oil, one
not requiring hydrogenation.
So since the latter 1990s, the “public
face” of sunflower oil in the United States
has been NuSun — and it has been a definite success story. During the five-year period of 2006/07 through 2010/11, domestic
sun oil usage has averaged 550 million
pounds per year. That compares with just
below 174 million pounds annually for the
period of 1993/94 through 1997/98.
Of course, farmers were not about to
grow NuSun varieties unless they performed
as well as, or better than, traditional sunflower varieties. Seed companies were full
participants in the transition, developing
NuSun hybrids that had the complete package: acceptable yield, good oil content and
other necessary agronomic traits, such as
disease resistance. Today, every mainline
sunflower seed company offers high-performing NuSun varieties.

A
T

itled “Dawn Breaking on the ‘NuSun’
Era,” an article in the January 1998
issue of The Sunflower began with the following words:
“If the term ‘NuSun’ is not already ingrained in your mind, it soon will be — and
with good reason. NuSun™ is the name
which has been given to the mid-oleic (monounsaturated) sunflower oil contained in
hybrids which will be grown on about
100,000 acres in 1998 and an anticipated
500,000 acres the following year. It is expected that NuSun hybrids eventually will
be grown on most oil-type sunflower
acreage in the United States.”
That expectation, as we now know, rang
true in an emphatic manner. As of 2003,
NuSun varieties comprised 55% of U.S. oiltype sunflower acreage; by 2007, it was in
the 85-90% range. “Traditional” highlinoleic sunflower oil, the industry’s mainstay since the latter 1960s, had assumed a

8

distinct second place in the U.S. sun oil
arena.
What prompted this dramatic shift? It
was all about market share, present and future. For a number of years prior to the latter 1990s, the U.S. sunflower industry was
heavily dependent upon export markets for
most of its oil sales. During the period between market years 1980/81 through
1994/95, export sales of U.S. sunflower oil
always outpaced domestic usage — and
often by a very wide margin. Having most
of its eggs in the export basket was not, it
was generally agreed, in the best long-term
interest of the nation’s sunflower industry.
That view coincided, during the 1990s,
with domestic food processors’ expanding
interest in and desire for healthier oils —
ones lower in saturated fats, reduced transfatty acids and minus the need for hydrogenation. This interest was spawned by
considerable research and wide publicity

lthough the NuSun era is still going
strong, it now appears that the U.S.
sunflower industry is once again poised for
a major shift in the predominant type of oil
it wants to offer the marketplace. The
promising new star, waiting in the wings as
of 2012, is high-oleic sunflower oil.
High-oleic sun oil actually has been
around since the mid-1980s, though for several years its production was restricted to
just one company due to patent issues.
Today, most sunflower seed suppliers offer
at least one or two (sometimes more) higholeic hybrids. But to date, it essentially has
fed a “niche” market, covering a relatively
small acreage compared to NuSun varieties.
The big difference between high-oleic
sun oil and NuSun oil is the level of oleic
(monounsaturated) acid. Whereas NuSun
typically hovers in the 60-65% range, high
oleic has a minimum of 80%. In terms of
saturated fat, high-oleic sun oil comes in at
about 7% — the same as the industry standard for this category, canola oil. (NuSun’s
saturated fat level runs around 9%, which is
still an improvement over corn or soybean.)
That low-sat fat level is the basis for the
intensifying interest in moving the U.S. oil
sunflower industry beyond the NuSun era
and into one in which high oleic is the dominant form of sunflower oil. Why? The motive is similar to that which prompted the

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

industry to move toward NuSun back in the
1990s: supply what the market wants.
“The market is always evolving,” notes
Guy Christensen, longtime oilseed marketing representative for Northern Sun-ADM at
Enderlin, N.D. A major reason why, he
pointed out during a panel discussion at the
2012 National Sunflower Association Summer Seminar, is the accumulated research
on the benefits/downsides on various types
of vegetable oils — and the evolving public
perception of what’s healthy and what’s not,
in terms of the oils they consume.
As of 2012, it’s all about saturated fat
and trans fat. For both, the current consensus calls for lowering them as much as possible. “Today’s thinking is, ‘Don’t cut out
all the fat; but replace the saturated fats with
monos and polys (polyunsaturates),’ ”
Christensen stated. “It’s the healthy fats
that we’re looking for.” Current “heart
healthy” alternatives to hydrogenated/highsat fat oils generally offer two key benefits:
(1) zero trans fat and (2) saturated fat levels
below 7%. To be successful commercially,
they also must be very stable (for extended
shelf life and fry life) and have superior
(i.e., neutral) taste characteristics.
To date, the leader of the healthy pack
has been canola oil. Its 7% sat fat has been
a tremendous advantage in the marketplace.
While NuSun has been a distinct success for
the sunflower industry, the increasing market demand for zero trans fat and as-low-aspossible saturated fat levels has convinced
many within the sunflower sector that higholeic oil is the best option for maintaining
and growing market share down the road.
John Swanson, a 40-year veteran of the
sunflower seed industry and secretary/treasurer of the NSA Board of Directors, believes the big question is not whether to
transition from NuSun to high oleic, but
rather, “What can we do as an industry to
make this work?” That question encompasses several fronts: “What does the consumer want? What does the processor
want? What will work on the farm? It has
to be a win:win situation,” Swanson emphasized at the 2012 Summer Seminar.
Tyler Schultz, manager of the Cargill
multi-seed processing plant at West Fargo,
N.D., another panel member at the NSA
Summer Seminar, stressed the need for balance in the transition to a high-oleic focus
— a balance not unlike that required in the
1990s when the industry switched over to
NuSun. “We need to have a cost-competitive product,” he stated. “How do we find
that balance between giving the grower a
good return, but also having oil prices that
can be competitive in the marketplace?”
In his company’s view, Schultz observed, the key will be to increase yields in
order to give growers the returns they need
to keep sunflower in rotations. While sunflower yields generally have trended upward

over the past 10-15 years, the rate of increase has not kept pace with that of corn or
soybeans. “I think the biggest thing — the
most challenging — is to get the yield up
and see a trend line similar to corn,” he said.
“We believe most NuSun oil users can
and will use high oleic; but it needs to be

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

price competitive with high-oleic canola,
with corn, and with the other options they
have,” Schultz concluded.
DowAgroSciences is on the cutting edge
of the curve. In the summer of 2011, the
company unveiled its development of a
trans-fat-free and ultra-low saturated fat

9

sunflower oil called Omega-9. This primarily oleic oil, which contains total saturates
of just 3%, is expected to hit the commercial
market by 2014 or 2015.
Omega-9 is the only existing U.S. veg
oil qualifying for the “zero fat” label, based
on a 14g serving size, said Asim Syed, Dow
AgroSciences’ head of global food applications R&D, another speaker at this summer’s NSA event. Along with its extremely
low saturated fat level, the oil also ranks
highest (among NuSun, canola, soybean and
corn oils) in heart-healthy monounsaturated
fat at 93%. That compares to 65% for

NuSun, 62% for canola, 23% for soybean
and 28% for corn. Taste tests conducted by
third-party sensory labs in the U.S. and EU
have been very favorable, with Omega-9 exhibiting a very neutral taste. Because of the
oleic acid-based fatty acid profile, the
Omega-9 sun oil is the most stable of all
natural liquid edible oils available today,
Syed noted. “That stability provides excellent shelf life, long fry life and very high resistance to polymerization,” he added.
“Application studies show that it is an ideal
oil for use in all food applications at home,
in restaurant chains and in processed foods.”

n summing up his presentation to the 2012
NSA Summer Seminar audience, ADM’s
Christensen highlighted three primary drivers in defining today’s oil market:
• Transition Away from Hydrogenation
— As of 2004, about 65% of the total North
American vegetable oil market consisted of
hydrogenated oils — mainly soybean. That
percentage continues to shrink.
• Renewable Fuels Mandate — With a
current target of 1 billion gallons annually
(and possibly up to 1.28 billion), this area is
a “big wild card,” depending upon how it
plays out. Soy oil will be the main supplier.
• Dietary Guidance — Volumes of research and an increasingly informed — and
concerned — public make this a huge factor
on the demand side. More healthy options
(e.g., high-oleic sunflower oil) are becoming
available.
Sunflower is well positioned to take advantage of these developments, Christensen
emphasized, for several reasons:
“One, we already have the ‘healthy oil’
perception.
“Two, we have commercial hybrids
available that can help lower saturated fats.
“Three, we can move toward 7% or
lower saturates over time.
“Four, by focusing our hybrid breeding
programs, we don’t need to develop as
many segments.
“Five, [with] trans fats already being
legislated out of foods in many municipalities definitely provides opportunity for oils
like sunflower and canola.
“Six, GMO labeling referendums also
are popping up in several states, which presents opportunity for sunflower and other
non-GMO oils.”
Christensen also pointed to another important consideration: the trend among food
processors toward using more blends rather
than stand-alone oils. This trend is driven
both by price and by the product formulation flexibility that it allows. So for sunflower oil, the bottom-line emphasis should
be on enhancing its value as an ingredient,
Christensen stated.
The transition from NuSun to high-oleic
sunflower oil must be a winning formula for
all sectors of the industry, reiterated seedsman John Swanson. “I think high oleic is
definitely the opportunity for our industry,”
Swanson stressed. “We need to put more
emphasis on that (rather than on NuSun) so
we can focus more on yield and oil and
grow the business.”
How soon will it happen? The 2013
season’s hybrids are being produced this
year, as are the inbreds that will go into
2014 hybrid seed production fields. “It’s
not going to happen overnight,” Swanson
observed. “But this is the direction in which
I believe we must move. We need tools to
keep sunflower competitive with corn, soybeans, canola.” — Don Lilleboe
■

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

Combine Fire Research Progresses

O

ne day last fall, while ag engineer Dan
Humburg was perched atop a combine
during sunflower harvest in central South
Dakota, the grower operating the machine
stopped at the end of the field and asked,
“Do you smell that?”
The South Dakota State University researcher could detect a burnt residue smell
in the air that the grower had indicated. “He
told me that’s the smell he gets just before
he detects a fire someplace. He had just
pushed the combine near capacity to generate higher temperature readings for our
monitors. He’s so sensitive to it and knows
exactly what to smell for to be on guard,”
Humburg explains.
Humburg realized that farmers have to
rely on intuition and a keen sense of smell
to avoid combine fires. He hopes the work
he and his fellow researchers at South
Dakota State University have been conducting can provide farmers solid solutions to
avoid the dangers and property loss due to
harvest fires. He’s also hoping to fix the
problem at the source before the farmer has
to count on his nose to detect a problem.
A team of researchers within the SDSU
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Department, backed by funding from the
South Dakota Oilseed Council, began their
work in July of 2011. They set out to first
investigate the primary question: Is it the
sunflower dust, or is it the machinery?
The study’s three-part objective is to (1)
understand the basic characteristics of sunflower dust in the lab, (2) see it in action in
the field and how it interacts with different
areas of the combine, and (3) bring the data
together to suggest potential engineering so-

lutions that could serve to change or interrupt one or more of the factors present when
a harvest fire starts.
The National Sunflower Association
first introduced this research project in the
August/September 2011 issue of The Sunflower. At that time, SDSU biosystems engineer Zhen Grong Gu and grad student Joe
Polin were busy in the lab conducting tests
to characterize the physical and chemical
properties of sunflower dust that contribute
to combine fires. Dust used for lab testing
initially was generated from stalks gathered
from an unharvested field planted in 2010.
First, the dust was mechanically separated into different fractions using a stack of
sieves and a sieve shaker. This was done to
isolate the finer dust particles that are most
easily suspended in air. The sunflower plant
parts (head, stalk pith and stalk outer layer)
were also segregated, milled and analyzed
to better understand the origin of the dust
that settles on combines during harvest. All
samples had the same moisture content and
bulk temperature prior to testing.
Another lab test entailed using a hot
plate to determine ignition points of the various dust particles. A thermocouple was
centrally located in the dust sample layer
and recorded temperature changing profile

While the team strongly
suspects the focal point should
be on the exhaust manifold,
they are exploring different
areas throughout the machine.

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

during continuous heating.
The finest dust collected was from the
head of the sunflower plant. This dust was
placed on a hot plate at temperatures of 260°
C and 250° C (i.e., about 500 and 482° F).
The test at 260° showed a peak, which indicates combustion, compared to the 250°
test, which did not show a significant peak
or combustion. Essentially, this difference
is used to estimate the ignition point.
Temperature spikes and ignition points
were also tested on sunflower versus corn
dust. According to the hot plate tests, the
sunflower head dust has a lower minimum
ignition temperature than corn dust at every
similar particle size. The lower ignition
point indicates that sunflower head dust is
more easily ignited than corn stover and can
also be ignited at temperatures when corn
stover won’t ignite.
Additional lab testing was conducted to
evaluate and compare the ignition byproducts of field dust with samples gathered during the 2011 harvest. It was concluded that
the inner stalk (pith) is the main source of
dust found on a combine. In addition to the
hot plate test, a variety of other characterizing tests were conducted. For example, the
researchers learned that sunflower dust begins to volatize at 428° F. The team thinks
that leads to the pre-ignition smell that
many farmers notice just before fires or
smoldering problems begin.

I

n addition to the lab tests on sunflower
dust, Humburg and his colleagues spent
time taking measurements on producers’
combines during the sunflower harvest in
central South Dakota. Kevin Dalsted, an

11

Photo: Sonia Mullally

South Dakota Ag Engineers
Continue Work to Better Understand
Causes of & Solutions to Fires
During Sunflower Harvesting

SDSU ag engineering professor who specializes in machine systems, is a collaborator on the project and joined Humburg in the
fields last fall. The pair observed the machinery, took temperature measurements
and recorded weather statistics.
“For me, the most interesting part was
information gathered atop the engine compartment, taking temperatures with a handheld infrared measuring device near the
machine’s exhaust manifold area,” Humburg notes. “That particular producer was
using some modifications with ceramic heat
tape wrapped around the exhaust manifold

to reduce the amount of heat radiating from
the manifold and pass the heat down to the
muffler. So it wasn’t a typical situation,
perhaps. But we learned that area reached a
temperature of 600° F after a short run without reaching maximum engine capacity.”
While the team strongly suspects the
focal point should be on the exhaust manifold, they are exploring different areas to
not overlook potential problems throughout
the machine. For instance, during this
year’s harvest they look to return to the field
to repeat some tests to solve certain problems they had gathering data last year, as

well as include new areas of interest.
“We were able to learn some from the
soybean issues as well last year in this region of the country,” Humburg adds. “Extraordinary occurrence of fires during both
sunflower and soybean harvest last year occurred in areas of southeast South Dakota,
northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota and
northeast Nebraska. There are commonalities among the situations. What we see happening more frequently in sunflower was
also happening in the soybean fields on specific days.”
Anyone who has participated in harvest
of any crop knows that the environment can
be very chaotic when it comes to the air
flow around the machine. Wind speed and
direction can make a difference, which often
varies greatly. Air blast from the radiator
fan is interacting with the wind, blowing
dust and debris to all areas of the machine,
so it’s very difficult to control the distribution of the chaff.
To try and get a handle on this, additional testing will be done in the lab to simulate the environment right around the
exhaust environment to quantify exactly
what temperature it takes to possibly ignite
dust flying adjacent to a hot surface. “Currently, we are in the process of building a
device to generate a continuously suspended
dust particle cloud through a tube furnace,”
Dalsted explains. “The process will simulate
the exposure of airborne dust to very hot
surfaces and will document the temperatures
needed to ignite the dust in the air stream.
We may also be able to extend this test to
observe the behavior of ignited embers landing on dusty surfaces.”
In addition, unanswered questions remain surrounding the static electricity on
combines and what role that plays. “We
have a lot of producers who say they think
this might be a source or a contributing factor to the fires occurring,” adds Humburg.
“I’ve had some industry people say they
cannot make it happen in their testing. If we
can’t get it to happen in the lab, it would indicate that while it might happen in the
field, it’s very rare. If we can make it happen in the lab, then we may have another
issue to address.”
According to Dalsted, the team has also
designed and ordered a machine to generate
energy through static sparks. “We will
apply this to both dust layers and suspended
dust clouds in open systems — not confined
space — to examine the energy needed to
ignite dust particles or dust layers. These
tests could help to determine if it is possible
to ignite dust particles or dust layers with
static discharges, and, if so, under what conditions this might occur.”
Despite multiple areas of concern when
it comes to “hot spots” on a combine, the
pair continues to focus on the exhaust manifold in the lab as well. “With the change

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

over to the newer models of combines, we
went from a naturally aspirated engine to a
turbo-charged system to keep up with the
demand from the producer for more power
from the engine. That bumps up the temperature in the area of the exhaust between
the turbo charger and the engine,” Humburg
explains.

S

unflower growers know to back off
slightly and not to push the machine to
capacity because of the propensity for fires.
Many also have made modifications to their
machines to help alleviate certain issues that
lead to fire breakouts. The SDSU research
team is also testing possible alterations or
additions to equipment in the field that
would be aiming to change the behavior of
the ignition sources. Humburg refers to the
combine chimney designed by the North
Dakota farmer featured in last year’s August/September issue of The Sunflower. The
chimney apparatus, attached to the air intake
system, extends up to draw clean air into the
radiator and keep the engine clean.
“We are looking at how we can preclude
fires in that area of the exhaust manifold in
varied circumstances. The chimney, for example, under good, common circumstances,
is a modification that can go a long way in
preventing fires,” Humburg observes. “It’s
not an absolute solution because in some
circumstances it could get overwhelmed —
and that’s some of what we saw in this area
last year. These farmers weren’t using chimneys per se; but their machines that ordinarily don’t catch fire, did have excessive
occurrences last year.”
“We have set up a salvaged engine exhaust manifold-turbo system in our shop and
will use a propane-fired set-up to achieve
nominal operating temperatures”, Dalsted
explains. “We should be able to evaluate
and model the heat transfer around this hot
surface. This should help us to better understand the potential dust ignition in the combine engine compartment area. We will also
consider potential engineering solutions to
hot surface-induced problems experienced
during the sunflower harvest.”
Another area of focus for the research
team, when they return to the field this fall,
will be the air flow around the combine. Air
cleaners on the machines have a pre-cleaner
section that screens out the coarser dust and
separates it before it goes in to the fine
paper filter that filters the finer dust before it
reaches the air cleaner. As it builds up, it
gets sucked out of the pre-cleaner and discharged or blown out at the latter part of the
muffler. Ideally, that exhaust has cooled to
a point where it’s no longer a source for ignition; but if the machine is running hot, it
might be a problem area.
The SDSU researchers question whether
there’s a chance that some of those coarser
particles of sunflower dust are being ignited

and blown upward through the muffler and
over the top of the machine. Ordinarily, that
dust is carried off by wind or extinguishes
itself before it lands anywhere that matters.
But if wind conditions are adverse and it
lands back on the machine, could it be a
problem? It may be there is no way for that
dust to be hot enough, but it should be ruled
out as a source for fires.
“This year, we plan to capture some of
that dust that’s going past the pre-cleaner
and coming out the muffler and see if it’s

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

hot enough to be a problem. This is just a
theory, but we’d like to take a closer look at
it,” Humburg notes. It’s another speculation
that the researchers hope to iron out in the
field tests this year.
The numerous unanswered questions illustrated here serve to shed light onto just
how complicated the issue of combine fires
really can be — not only for producers, but
for researchers attempting to understand it
and offer solutions. Ongoing research seeks
the answers. — Sonia Mullally
■

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hen the U.S. Senate passed its version of the 2012 farm bill on June 21
by a strong 64-35 vote, all eyes turned to
the House. In response, House Agriculture
Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK)
announced his intentions to mark up his
farm bill the following week, right before
the 4th of July break, to enable staff time
to prepare the bill for floor action in July.

* Dale Thorenson is on the staff of
Gordley & Associates, which provides
representation for the National Sunflower Association in Washington, D.C.
Prior to coming to Washington as an
aide to then-Sen. Byron Dorgan of
North Dakota, Thorenson managed his
family’s farm in Bottineau County, N.D.
His practice areas include farm policy,
budget and appropriations.

14

But within a few hours of Lucas’ remarks, the Republican House leadership
— Speaker Boehner (R-OH) and Majority
Leader Cantor (R-VA) — released a floor
schedule for the next week that included
consideration of the FY2013 Agriculture
Appropriations Bill. This effectively
knocked the June farm bill mark-up off the
calendar because Ag Committee members
would have to be available to fight off
scurrilous amendments during appropriations debate. As a result, Lucas postponed
the farm bill mark-up to July 11.
The annual ag spending bill has yet to
be considered on the House floor.
Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member
Collin Peterson (D-MN) did hold their
mark-up on July 11. In a marathon session
finishing in the early morning hours the
following day, they passed the bill with a
strong bipartisan vote of 35-11. The pair

then promptly began lobbying the House
Republican leadership for floor time, as
there were only three weeks left before the
House would adjourn for the August recess
and not return until September 10.
About that time, it became apparent
that Mother Nature had also decided to
play a role in this Capitol Hill drama. She
began pushing daily temperature readings
into the triple digits all across the Heartland, setting some all-time record highs to
emphasize the point. As a result, the
growing drought reached a severity and
scope that had not been seen in 50 years.
Cue the national news media, always
eager to push a new tragedy, and soon
tales of the “Dirty Thirties” were being
told by old-timers during evening newscasts. Each week, the red “severe
drought” zone on the U.S. Drought Monitor Map mushroomed in size. Farm state
congressmen began demanding that the Ag
Committee-passed farm bill be brought to
the House floor so that its livestock disaster provisions could be enacted.
However, an open debate on the farm
bill would mean other issues would also be
brought up, coupled with tough votes prior
to an election. The most contentious and
politically dangerous of these “other issues” would be the level of cuts inflicted
upon the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, aka “food
stamps”). The Senate farm bill contained
$4 billion in cuts to SNAP over 10 years;
the House Committee farm bill had $14
billion; and amendments to cut up to $35
billion would likely be offered during a debate on the House floor.
But as the drought worsened with each
passing day, the House Republican leadership concluded the political price for not
voting on an ag disaster package prior to a
five-week recess was just too steep. However, rather than bringing the Ag Commit-

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

tee-passed 2012 farm bill (which included
disaster aid already paid for) to the floor,
they announced on July 25 that a one-year
extension of the 2008 farm bill that included a scaled-back version of disaster
aid would be cobbled together, with consideration scheduled right before leaving
for the August recess.
The details of the extension were released on Friday, July 27: $621 million in
disaster assistance would be offset with
$759 million in conservation cuts over the
next 10 years, with $261 million in Direct
Payment cuts over nine years. Direct Payments would be paid in full next year, and
SNAP benefits would not be cut, either.
To appease conservatives upset about
Direct Payments and SNAP escaping the
knife, a host of mandatory spending authorizations would be terminated, including renewable energy, rural economic
development, organic agriculture, local
farmer markets, beginning and minority
farmer programs. Assurances were also
given that this extension could not be used
as a vehicle to conference with the fiveyear bill the Senate passed in June.

W

ith all that baggage — full Direct
Payments and SNAP benefits for
2013, conservation cuts, program terminations, no farm bill conference, and close to

$400 million more in cuts than needed —
by Tuesday afternoon, July 31, the extension suffocated and died under its own
weight due to opposition from just about
every constituency involved.
(One notable “Dear Colleague” letter
from Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) asked, “What
do Direct Payments and Disco Have in
Common?” The answer being, “They
Both Should Be Allowed to Fade into the
Past! Vote ‘No’ on Farm Bill Extension &
Continued Direct Payments.”)
Amazingly, the House Republican
Leadership had managed to unite almost
everyone in opposition to their plan.
Plan B — a stand-alone disaster bill —
was revealed on Tuesday evening that
would be brought up for a vote under suspension of the rules – meaning no amendments and a two-thirds majority would be
required for passage – with the vote taking
place on Thursday, August 2. The cost for
the disaster assistance was $383 million
with offsets of $639 million from the Conservation Security Program and Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The
remaining $256 million would go toward
deficit reduction.
Although not in opposition, major farm
groups panned the stand-alone disaster bill
on Wednesday afternoon, August 1, lecturing that a much better option would be for

the House to consider the Ag Committeepassed farm bill because the assistance was
already paid for and was more comprehensive in scope.
By Wednesday evening, the House Republican leadership team determined they
did not have the two-thirds majority to
pass the bill under a suspension of the
rules, and had to revert to Plan C: a closed
rule for the same legislation. This meant
that just a simple majority would be required to pass both the rule (a resolution
deeming it was in order to consider the
legislation) and the disaster assistance legislation.
On Thursday morning, August 2, no
one appeared to be very enthused about the
situation. Indeed, Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
was quoted in Congressional Quarterly:
“It's hard to get excited about a disaster
measure that's more political than relief.”
But the rule did pass around noon by a
236-182 vote; and at 5 p.m. the standalone disaster bill passed by a vote of 223197. Voting yes were 188 Republicans
and 35 Democrats; 46 Republicans and
151 Democrats voted no.
The House then adjourned, and members flocked to the airport to head home
until September 10, which is just 20 days
prior to the September 30 expiration date
of the 2008 farm bill.
■

Sunflower Harvesting
Attachment

Harvest with confidence with the Seed Eater Sunflower
Harvesting Attachment. It is one of the most effective and
economical methods of sunflower harvest. Having been
tested in seven countries, the design has made this product
one of the finest in the market.
drum
Heavy duty 16 gauge drum
Heavy duty 14 gauge pans with strong design
Specially
Specially designed fingers move sunflower head
gently but positively to auger
Extra long dividers
dividers for more positive row alignment

Manufactured in Jamestown, North Dakota - USA
more information on the Seed Eater!

www.seed-eater.com

All parts hot dipped or galvanized
Bolts and U-bolts are Grade 5
Heavy duty unimount system allows
mounting
allows mount
ing in
minutes
All components bolt up without drilling

ing maximum pickup of downed ’flowers.
The auger is designed to ensure the most
efficient transfer of harvested material to
the combine with minimum damage and
loss, facilitating maximum harvest efficiency whatever the harvesting conditions.
Fantini sunflower headers are available
in row widths of from 20 to 40 inches and
from four to 18 rows.
For More Information: Fantini North
America, 40463 261st Ave., Le Center, MN
56057; phone — (507) 357-2341; email —
fantininorthamerica@gmail.com; website
— www.fantininorthamerica.net

Flexxifinger

The Flexxifinger QD™ Sunflower Pan
was introduced to farmers in 2007 by the
Saskatchewan agricultural manufacturer
Flexxifinger QD™ Industries. It is designed for quick installation and removal.
The system also enables quick transition to
other types of harvest attachments.

Editor’s Note: Many sunflower producers utilize row-crop combine heads to
harvest this crop. And many others opt for
a harvest attachment specifically designed
for sunflower. Still others employ special
conversion kits fitted to their corn head.
These pages contain information on
several sunflower attachments and conversion kits available to producers. The in-

Fantini North America

Fantini has been one of the foremost
header manufacturers since 1968, specializing in corn and sunflower headers. Our
universal headers are designed to fit all
makes and models, offering a proven en-

18

formation has been provided by the respective companies and edited for use in
The Sunflower.
This compilation is not totally inclusive, as not all companies contacted responded to our request for information.
Most did, however. Contact details are included for those growers who wish to visit
further about a given company’s products.
hancement to the performance of today’s
high-output combines.
Sunflower headers must be designed to
harvest the crop correctly with minimum
losses. The Fantini sunflower header is
simple, reliable and requires minimum
maintenance. Stalks are held by unique
rubber blocks on the gathering chains and
immediately cut by rotating disc knives to
prevent shaking and seed loss. The specially designed collecting pans slope rearwards and help reduce header losses to
virtually zero. (The gathering chains and
rubber blocks can last up to 10,000 acres.)
As the header incline is adjustable, the
collecting pans can be set to slope rearwards at almost any cutting height. The
points (snouts) also are adjustable, ensur-

The incline of the pans is aimed at salvaging lodged or low-hanging plant heads.
The Flexxifinger QD™ Sunflower
Pans are attached to the header using the
patented QD™ attachment system, which
is installed separately on the header using
provided guard bolts and a special QD™
nut, fastened on the top side of the guard,
says Flexxifinger. This allows a pan to be
removed or installed in seconds and an entire header in minutes.
For More Information, Flexxifinger
QD Industries: phone — (800) 544-8512
(USA) or (800) 925-1510 (Canada); website — www.flexxifinger.com

Gates Manufacturing

Gates Manufacturing has marketed its
“Quick Tach” sunflower pans for a number
of years. The 48”-long durable plastic pans

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

are available in three- and four-pan assembly units for easy handling.
Overall unit widths are available in any
footage. The pans, available in widths of
either nine or 12 inches, are designed to
mount easily (via just two tighteners) on
any auger or draper head.
Gates also offers liftrods that can be
easily attached to the pans to aid with the
harvesting of lodged plants.
For More Information: Gates Manufacturing Inc., 8710 33rd Avenue N.W,
Lansford, ND 58750; phone —
(701) 784-5434 or 784-5525; website —
www.gatesmfg.net

Golden Plains Ag Tech

Golden Plains, based in Colby, Kan.,
has been marketing the “SunStar” sunflower harvesting system for the past 19
years, serving customers in North and
South America as well as several countries
elsewhere.
SunStar corn head attachments are used
on John Deere and Case IH corn
heads. Golden Plains has a model for the
JD 600 Series corn head, as well as the
Case 2200 and Case 2400 Series and New
Holland 98C.
SunStar is designed to take advantage
of the unique physical characteristics of
the sunflower stalk. For that reason, sunflower is the only crop that can be har-

vested while the SunStar attachments are
installed. However, the attachments are installed and removed quite easily, so the
grower can quickly switch from ’flowers
to corn, or vice versa, if needed.
“With SunStar conversions installed on
the producer’s corn head, he can move
quickly through his standing ’flowers with
a very small loss,” says Golden Plains Ag
Tech. “He will be able to lift lodged stalks
and move the heads into the combine with
minimum loss.” Sunflower heads enter the
cross auger “with the heads unbroken and
six to 12 inches of stalk still attached to the
head,” the company states.
SunStar has no moving parts and re-

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

Breckenridge, MN
Jim Smith
800.654.4145

Crookston, MN
Tim Petry or Bill Sullivan
800.837.5984

Goodland, KS
Mike Bretz
800.742.9259

Grace City, ND
Kent Johnson
877.674.3179

19

quires no physical modification for attachment to the corn head. “There is only one
simple adjustment which is usually made
only once per season,” says Golden Plains.
For More Information: Golden Plains
Ag Tech, P.O. Box 307, Colby, KS 67701;
phone — (800) 255-8280; website —
www.goldenplains.com/sunstar/

Intersteel Industries

The Intersteel sunflower attachment
has been marketed for more than 40 years.
Pan width options are nine, 12 and 27
inches, and it is available in all rigid
header lengths. The pans mount atop
guards, with pan supports that attach beneath the combine header. The reel drum
mounts with bearings and drive system
from the bat reel supplied by the combine
manufacturer.

“Pan width, length and rotating drum
help feed plant heads into the combine/
header smoothly and evenly,” Intersteel
states. “Pan width and length ensure maximum collection of shattered seeds in dry
crop conditions. The nine-inch pans offer
the most versatility for any row spacing
and also work well for solid seeding.” The
Intersteel attachment also has been used
with corn, the company reports.
Along with the United States and
Canada, Intersteel has sold its harvest
attachment in Chili and the Sudan.
For More Information: Intersteel
Industries, P.O. Box 1451, Morden, MB
R6M 1B3, Canada; phone — (204) 8225055 or (877) 839-9301; website —
www.intersteelindustries.com

Lucke Manufacturing

The original Lucke sunflower harvesting attachment dates back to 1966. Lucke
presently offers nine and 12-inch pan
width options with its non-reel system.
Other options include liftrods for lodged

Around since 1995, the Sunmaster
header originally was produced in the U.S.
by Westward Products and later bought by
Jim Broten, a North Dakota farmer and the
owner of Sheyenne Tooling & Mfg. in
Cooperstown, N.D. Improvements
through the years have ensured that the
header has kept up with grower needs and
the size of their combines.
Known primarily for use in sunflower,
the header can also be used to harvest dryland corn, milo (sorghum) and sesame
seed. The header system will fit most
combines with available adapter kits. The
Sunmaster is available in eight-, 12- and
16-row 30-inch spacing, as well as 12-, 16and 18-row 20-inch spacing.
The header’s rotating star cutting
knives, with the four large, thick sickle
knives, are positioned at the rear of the
gathering chains. This design ensures that
as the stalk/head is cut off, it will fall either directly on to the vibrating pans or the
platform and be moved into the combine.
As the stalk is grabbed by the single gathering chain, the pans are shaped to
position the head over the pan and toward
the platform. Any seed loss caused by
shattering is minimized as the seeds fall on
the vibrating pan and are moved to the
platform.

A cam on the gearbox drive shaft
moves a rocker arm up and down beneath
the pan. This action vibrates the seeds back
onto the platform.
The Sunmaster effectively harvests
lodged sunflower, corn and milo. The independent row dividers slide along at
ground level, picking up downed crop.
The flat-top divider moves heads and
stalks to the pans and platform, ensuring
significant crop savings.
Other seed-saving features of the Sunmaster include:
• Replaceable shoes on the underside
of the point of each divider.
• Brackets on each end of the header to

prevent heads from getting hung up in a
back corner.
• An adjustable ridge plate to help direct the stalk into the header.
• Optional sprockets allowing the operator to match the gathering chains to the
ground speed.
For More Information: Sheyenne Tooling
& Mfg., P.O. Box 647, Cooperstown, ND
58425; phone — (800) 797- 1883 or (701)
797-2700; website—www.sheyennemfg.com

West Country Products

Jamestown, N.D.-based West Country
Products has distributed the “SeedEater”
sunflower harvesting attachment since
2006. Midwestern Machine, its manufacturer, has been manufacturing the attachment since 1986. The product underwent
an extensive makeover in 1994 to improve
upon its fit, function and aesthetics.
Along with sunflower, the SeedEater also
has been used successfully in milo.

This harvesting attachment has been
sold across the U.S. and in 14 foreign nations. Midwestern Machine has partnered
with other manufacturers as an OEM supplier in overseas sales and service.
The SeedEater is available with pan
widths of either nine or 12 inches.
Overall attachment widths range from 18
feet and up. “Key features of the
SeedEater include a heavy-duty 16-gauge
drum with specially designed fingers to
move sunflower heads gently but positively to the auger,” says West Country
Products. “Also, heavy-duty 14-gauge
pans with strong design and extra-long dividers for more-positive row alignment.
“The SeedEater is easily mounted on
your own combine header and can be easily removed, if desired, to use your platform on other crops,” West Country adds.
“The pans are mounted on a tube frame;
therefore the drum can be rolled off the
reel arms onto the pans. The chain binders
release on the back of the header, and you
are ready to back away from the
SeedEater.” This process can be done by
one person in approximately one-half hour.
For More Information: West Country
Products (a Division of General Implement), 1312 21st Ave. N.E., Jamestown,
ND 58401; phone — toll-free (866) 9742182 or (701) 251-2182; website —
www.generalimp.com
■

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

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ome in the industry point toward herbicide-tolerant sunflower technology —
in the form of the Clearfield® Production
System from BASF — as the savior of the
crop in the mid- to late 1990s. Many growers had been giving up on sunflower due to
the lack of effective weapons to combat
persistent weeds.
Weeds in sunflower are a source of
frustration for growers and, when severe,
obviously lead to decreased yield. The advent of this technology introduced a postemergence herbicide option that had not
available on conventional sunflower. Herbicide-tolerant sunflower allowed growers
to plant across a wider range of environments with greater peace of mind when it
came to weed control.
The key to herbicide-tolerant sunflower
technology was offering the grower more

untreated

2x

flexibility. Now, a new production system
just released by BASF called Clearfield®
Plus technology, will advance that valuable
flexibility.
Ironically, the gene that started it all for
improved weed control came from a wild
sunflower, which is classified as a weed.
The ImiSun trait, based on a natural mutation in wild sunflower, was discovered in
1996 in wild sunflower, paving the way for
herbicide tolerance with the Clearfield®
Production System sunflower hybrids that
were first introduced in 2003. However,
one key ingredient is different in this new
system. The Clearfield Plus trait was not
derived from wild sunflower (instead, it
was selected in an elite cultivated inbred
line), so it does not contain attributes associated with the plant’s wild “cousin” and
the wild sunflower genetic impact on yield

Below: Clearfield® Plus sunflower treated with the same Clearfield herbicide at the
same 2x, 4x and 6x dosages, compared to the untreated plants at left.

untreated
22

2x

4x

6x

and oil content.
In 2000, an initiative was headed up by
BASF and the Argentina- based company,
Nidera, to create a more-efficient, singlegene breeding system to develop sunflower
with greater herbicide tolerance, improved
weed control, oil content and yield potential. By 2006, BASF began working with
its global seed partners to integrate this
new innovative Clearfield Plus trait into
elite commercially viable hybrids. In 2010,
the first commercial Clearfield Plus hybrid
was launched in Argentina — and the technology will be available for U.S. growers
in several locally adapted hybrids in 2013.
Kent McKay, North Dakota-based
BASF technical services representative,
says the new technology has big benefits
for both the seed companies and the
grower. “For the seed companies, it added
ease of breeding of the hybrids for increased tolerance, and [it] shortened their
time needed to build and bring to market
the new Clearfield Plus hybrids with improved herbicide tolerance, yield and oil
content potential,” McKay explains. “For
the grower, it affords more flexibility in the
crop stages. There’s more-consistent and
better control of harder-to-control weeds.
We target taking that control up 8 to 15%
from the current system of 80 to 90% control on the harder-to-control broadleaf and
grass weeds. Plus, the added options with
adjuvants make this a great choice for
growers.”
Dr. Ryan Bond, BASF Clearfield Production System Sunflower market manager, notes, “Clearfield Plus technology is
the second-generation Clearfield trait that
delivers enhanced herbicide tolerance for
improved crop safety and performance.
This innovative system equates to morerobust weed control and greater crop performance potential in terms of yield and oil
content.”
The bottom line, says BASF, is that
Clearfield Plus technology makes it easier
for seed companies to breed tolerance to
imidazolinone herbicides in sunflower hybrids and pass along all it has to offer for
the growers. There are five important areas
where the new production system offers
advantages:
Breeding – Instead of multiple genes
involved with the Clearfield trait, the new
Clearfield Plus technology involves only a
single gene inferring herbicide tolerance to
Beyond® herbicide. The inherent trait in the
original Clearfield sunflower is controlled
by at least two or more genes; one gene is
the natural acetohydroxy acid synthase
(AHAS) mutation, and the other(s) are
known as modifiers or enhancer (called the
“E” factor). However, since there’s no diagnostic method available to determine the
“E” factor, breeding selections have to rely
on phenotypic or observed evaluations of

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

plants treated with Clearfield herbicides.
This makes the already lengthy breeding
process even more tedious and time consuming. In contrast, Clearfield Plus technology involves only a single gene without
the need for an enhancer or “E” factor,
making the process easier and faster for
seed breeders.
Herbicide Tolerance – Early greenhouse studies exposed Clearfield Plus sunflowers to up to six times the
recommended rate of a Clearfield herbicide
(Beyond herbicide in the U.S.). This
greater herbicide tolerance affords growers
more options to use more aggressive adjuvants and herbicide formations, which
would provide better weed control in situations where there is either high weed pressure or difficult-to-control weeds.
Essentially, greater tolerance allows the
grower more use-rate flexibility when the
situation or environment warrants it, with
no known adverse effects on the plant.
Weed Control – Trial data from 20082010, shows improved grass and broadleaf
weed control in Clearfield Plus fields versus Clearfield-treated fields. The study
also found that adjuvants such as MSO
(methylated seed oil) or BASF’s DASH®
can be used on Clearfield Plus sunflower to
enhance the activity of the herbicide,
whereas less-aggressive adjuvants, like
nonionic surfactants, are recommended for
Clearfield sunflower.
Oil Content – Preliminary data have

shown that oil percentages of Clearfield
Plus sunflower are on par with conventional hybrids and higher oil content per
acre than Clearfield sunflower. The difference may be attributed to the fact that there
is no “E factor” linkage to wild sunflower
in the new Clearfield Plus system.
Yield – Data in field trials have shown
Clearfield Plus hybrids yielded comparable
to conventional hybrids. The weed control
provided by Clearfield and Clearfield Plus
over pre-emergence herbicides in conventional sunflower could be an attributing
factor, particularly in environments prone
to weed issues. More field testing is being
conducted to assess Clearfield Plus yields
across variable environments to confirm
these data.

Plus to Replace Clearfield

BASF and its seed partners will launch
Clearfield Plus in 2013 in the U.S. Eventually, the new technology will completely
replace the previous Clearfield system as
seed companies continue to integrate it into
their breeding programs.
Bond explains that preliminary data
show that Clearfield Plus sunflower provided greater yield and oil content on a peracre basis than Clearfield sunflower.
Improved grain yield can be a direct result
of improved weed control and enhanced
crop tolerance of the Clearfield Plus trait.
Since 2003, seed partners have im-

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

proved the performance of Clearfield hybrids in terms of average yield and oil percentage. BASF field test trials show this
second-generation Clearfield Plus trait for
sunflower provides greater herbicide tolerance to Beyond herbicide and higher oil
content on a per-acre basis than Clearfield
sunflower.
“Both Clearfield and Clearfield Plus
hybrids will be available in the marketplace
in 2013. The enhanced performance of
Clearfield Plus is expected to expedite market adoption from Clearfield to Clearfield
Plus,” Bond adds.

Seed Available in 2013

One of these seed partners, Mycogen
Seeds, just last month announced the introduction of three new sunflower hybrids for
the 2013 season, including a confection hybrid with the Clearfield Plus Production
system. The new hybrid is billed as offering expanded weed control options.
John Kalthoff, sunflower marketing
specialist with Mycogen, says, “Our
Clearfield Plus introduction with one hybrid will be a quite small introduction. We
hope to gain some additional understanding
in the field next summer.”
Input costs associated with the new
Clearfield Plus Production System for sunflower will be announced upon commercialization expected in 2013 by BASF and
its seed partners. — Sonia Mullally
■

23

Association Bids Farewell
To Retiring Board Members
O

utgoing National Sunflower Association board member John
McLean sums it up well in saying, “The unique organizational
structure of the National Sunflower Association that combines
both producers and industry membership to the benefit and growth
of the sunflower industry was a visionary strength of the original
organizing group.”
McLean spent 12 years as part of this unique group, alongside
producers from North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and
Colorado, combined with industry representatives from all sectors,
that make up the NSA board of directors.
The NSA honored McLean and two other board members in
late June at the 2012 Summer Seminar. Those leaving the board
included North Dakota producers Tim DeKrey and Reg Herman
and industry member McLean of Cargill,
Inc. Herman, a Brinsmade area farmer
(north central North Dakota), served one
three-year term. Both DeKrey and McLean
had been on the board for four terms.
DeKrey, of Steele, N.D., has been farming for nearly 35 years. In 2001 he was
called upon to fulfill a term vacated by another south central North Dakota farmer and
Reg Herman
has never regretted his decision to join the
NSA board. He subsequently moved up through the board ranks,
serving as president and chairman.
Quick to point out the group effort that drives the NSA,
DeKrey credits Larry Kleingartner’s leadership in helping make
sure all producers’ voices are heard. “I represented the smaller producer, and I may have had a different perspective based on the size

of my operation,” he says. “Larry made sure all producers were
made to feel valuable and had their opinions and ideas heard.”
DeKrey decided to stick around for as long as is allowed by the
group’s bylaws: four consecutive three-year terms. “It takes about
five years on the board before a member can
become effective and have a clear understanding of how things work and get accomplished. Larry was a great motivator in
getting board members to that point where
they could be an effective spokesman for
the industry,” DeKrey says.
John McLean has been a spokesman for
the industry for almost 40 years. He’s
Tim DeKrey
worked in the grain industry since 1973,
with 32 of those years at Cargill. His primary responsibility for
Cargill is commercial seed origination. He’s also involved in other
merchandising activities in the West Fargo office and represents
Cargill with outside organizations such as NSA, the Flax Council
of Canada, Northern Crops Institute and the North Dakota State
Chamber of Commerce. Tentative plans are
to retire from Cargill in January of 2013.
“I have very much enjoyed my association with the NSA, both as a member of the
NuSun development committee and the 12
years that I served on the board,” John
shares. “Several things come to mind as I
think back on the time spent with NSA.”
The foresight of the organizers of NSA to
John McLean
have a board of directors made up of both
producers and industry personnel was something McLean credits
as the foundation for success of the organization and the crop.
“That decision brought many different points of view and revenue
sources to solving the many problems that we tackled,” he states.
“The high-quality people — staff, producers, government and industry members — all made serving with the NSA a challenging

New Board Members Welcomed

The National Sunflower Association recently welcomed
three new members to its 19-member board of directors made
up of producers and industry representatives from across the
nation’s primary sunflower producing regions. New members
are North Dakota producers Clark Coleman of Bismarck and
Todd Lasher of McClusky, along with Tyler Schultz, of
Cargill, Inc., West Fargo, N.D. All began three-year terms.
Coleman manages the family farm with his brother near
Baldwin, N.D., where they raise sunflower, canola, winter
wheat, spring wheat, malting barley, corn, peas, pinto beans
and soybeans. The Colemans also operate a cow-calf operation on the family ranch, dating back to the 1940s.
Lasher has managed the family farm in Sheridan County
in central North Dakota since 1982. The diversified Lasher
operation includes beef cattle, and several crops: sunflower,
spring wheat, oats, corn, millet, peas, durum, malting barley,
canola and flax. Todd also owns and operates a trucking
firm.
Schultz represents the industry sector on the NSA Board
of Directors. He began his career with Cargill as an intern in
the company’s soybean crushing business in the Des Moines,
Iowa, office. He later worked in Sioux City and Kansas City
before transferring to Cargill’s West Fargo facility about two
years ago. Schultz is responsible for managing all of the facility’s commercial-related activities, including seed purchasing, meal sales, oil sales and facility run schedules.
■

24

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

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DMR Sunflower with HI-Octane
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26

and rewarding experience. We identified
and worked hard on solving a great many
problems and issues that faced the sunflower industry, and, for the most part,
made progress to the benefit of all parties.”
DeKrey agrees, saying, “To have a
board where there’s an interaction of industry and producers, whether it’s the processors, seed companies or confection guys,
we all work together for the common good
of promoting the crop. To have everyone
literally at the same table interacting is
valuable to the crop.”
Many accomplishments and advancements of the crop over the years come to
mind for both men – big improvements in
insurance, herbicide tolerance and hybrid
development, just to name a few. “It was a
great experience overall; but to see so
many positive things happen for the crop
while I was on the board is special,”
DeKrey notes. “My interest in the board
came off a difficult year raising confection
sunflower in the late 1990s when we had
serious problems with dark roast and Sclerotinia. At the time, those issues were not
covered by insurance. We worked with
RMA, and it took almost five years. But
we got them to cover those perils.”
McLean says there were plenty of problems faced by the board, but most had positive outcomes. He points to the conversion
of the crop to NuSun as the highlight of his
time spent with NSA.
Both DeKrey and McLean exit their
seats at the table with a few regrets and
some unfinished business. “There were so
many good things we accomplished; but if
I had to pinpoint one disappointment it
would be that the deal with Frito-Lay using
sunflower oil exclusively didn’t work out,”
DeKrey relates. “That was unfortunate, but
it made us work even harder to make this
crop survive in the end.”
McLean says dealing with blackbirds
remains the biggest frustration of his time
on the board. “I personally believe there
are technical solutions to this problem. But
there are just too many political roadblocks
to implement the solutions,” he ventures.
Despite some setbacks and battles with
certain ongoing issues, the positives greatly
outweigh the negatives for both men.
DeKrey has fond memories of trips to
Washington, D.C., and to corporate headquarters for hybrid seed and chemical companies. But it’s the caliber of people he
worked alongside over the years that really
stands out.
McLean responds similarly when asked
what he might miss most about being part
of the association. “There were many spirited discussions on how to solve issues that
came before the board, but solving the
problem was always the priority,” he states.
Looking back, it will be the people I will
miss the most.” — Sonia Mullally
■

Canadian Company’s Potato Chip Cooker
Gives New Meaning to The Words
‘Snacking Fresh’ — And Sunflower Oil
Is a Central Ingredient in Its Success

28

magine enjoying a chip fried right before
your eyes and served up fresh. A school
trip to a large chip factory 15 years ago inspired a small group of Canadian entrepreneurs to make that image a reality. No need
to visit a potato chip factory: “Chippery”
brings that factory right to the customer.
The folks at Chippery, based in Ontario,
designed their innovative fresh chip cooker
to give new meaning to the words “snacking fresh.” No question, potato chips are a
favorite snack. There are plenty of choices
at the store that claim to be fresh or all natural. So what could a small company do to
make a big impact on a crowded marketplace? They figured out how to market a
welcome change to the traditional, factoryproduced potato chip by making and serving it fresh in minutes.
Factory chips can take weeks or even
months to get from the factory to the store
shelves — and its requires large factories
and warehouses to produce and store millions of bags that are shipped all around the
country. Not only are Chippery’s products
served fresh, they pride themselves on the
fact that they don’t leave a negative lasting
impact on the environment in the process.
The small, self-contained machine takes
only three minutes to slice and cook a fresh
batch of potato chips. A slicer cuts the raw,
unpeeled potato, and then a paddle submerges the slices in sunflower oil. Finally,
a conveyer belt transports the hot, fresh
chips to the finish. From there, the chips
are tossed in seasoning either manually in a
bowl or with an automatic tumbler system.
Flavors include popular tastes such as:
sea salt, ketchup, cracked black pepper,
sour cream and onion, cinnamon and brown
sugar, BBQ, jalapeño, white cheddar and
dill pickle. The product is generally sold in
a 2 oz. bag for about $3-$4.
The cooker measures 81 inches long
and 21 inches deep by about 54 inches high.
It’s a miniature potato chip factory contained in one compact space. This is what
makes the Chippery system so appealing to
vendors. The units are marketed and sold
to operators as a turn-key business including: chip cookers, raw materials, cobranded packaging, training, market
support personnel and marketing/merchandising programs. Licensees can set up just
about anywhere, make a fresh snack using
local products in no time flat. Chippery
sources both their potatoes and sunflower
oil from Canadian farmers and suppliers.
As the Chippery website notes, “Why
trust a big multi-national chip conglomerate
to tell you when the chips are ‘best before’
when you can watch them get made and
judge for yourself?”
Ken Tracey, general manager of Chippery, Inc., recently offered some insights
into his company’s innovative process and
popular products. — Sonia Mullally

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

Your business venture began as a concept more than 15 years ago.
When did the first fresh chip theatre begin operation in the public?
It all began in 1996 in a shopping mall. The idea was to be
close to a destination area at the movie theater entrance.

The Chippery products are cooked in sunflower oil. Why sunflower
oil?

After many testing periods of our products in different oils, we
picked sunflower oil because it brings out the best taste in our product. There is another benefit in that there is a reduced oil smell in
the air from the cooking process with sunflower oil. Another important attribute for using sunflower oil is that we can cook at a
slightly lower temperature with great results — and, importantly,
we have noticed a lower oil absorption into our product.
In a recent feature story in a Canadian business journal, you are
quoted as saying, “These chips actually taste like potato...” How
do you preserve that natural potato flavor?

We put a potato in the chute, and our machine slices it and
cooks it in our sunflower oil for the best results. We are not removing the starch from the potato. All the goodness of the potato is
there to be enjoyed by the customer. The fact that we make our
product fresh and serve it right away makes a big difference in the
taste. We are not storing the bags, we are not flushing the bags,
and we are not shipping the bags hundreds of miles to the customer.
All these things make us so different from traditional chips.
How important is the non-GMO factor in your production?

It is very important along with the freshness. We want our customers to have the cleanest, freshest product available from start to
finish.
Clearly, potato chips are a favorite snack of millions of people all
over North America. What about traditional fried and packaged
potato chips produced in a factory made you want to seek something “different?”

product. We knew from tasting products made fresh that we could
create a point of difference and provide the customer with not only
a better tasting product, but a better experience. We know consumers are shifting more to buying local and buying fresh.
Why is fresh so important — and what value does it have to the
consumer?

Fresh always tastes better in any category, so why not chips?
Once you try our product, it is hard to go back to mass-produced
products. Quality, taste and the experience are a huge benefit, and
the consumer receives a product made fresh coming from a local
shop with potatoes from a local farm — and all with less miles
travelled to reach their cart.
What would be the number one reason why you think consumers
choose your product?

It is hard to say only one reason, but our quality of the product
must stand out. When a consumer gets a bag of our chips, they are
still nice and large as they have only gone a few feet from the
cooker to the consumer’s hands.
Where are your chip cookers in operation?

We have lots of cookers in both Canada and the U.S., mostly in
entertainment parks and some grocery retailers. We have now
started to move into hotels where chefs can do artisan products in
our cookers.
What’s on the horizon for your company?

We are currently working on a variety of new products, including desert chips. We are also pushing our business in the direction
of co-branding with current franchise shops. We believe our product makes a great partner with sandwich and deli operators — especially those that are all about fresh.
■

We wanted to bring a more “natural” and “local” feel to the

For more information about Chippery
and its products, go to www.chippery.com

“During the period April 7 through November 20, farmer-cooperators started and operated their tractors (four Allis-Chalmers, four
Case and four John Deere) at temperatures of from 5°F to above
100°F. Fuel filtration was not a problem at these temperatures, and
engine performance was satisfactory. . . . Engine disassembly at the
end of the season did reveal high carbon and varnish-like deposits
on several engine components, including piston ring grooves and
ring lands, as well as on intake valve stems and intake ports.”
Moisture Level Key When Desiccating — “The list of available sunflower desiccants is a short one. Paraquat, a product of
Chevron Chemical Company, is the best known. It is labeled for
use on oil-type sunflower only. Gramoxone, distributed by ICI
Americas, Inc., recently received a state label for North Dakota for
use on oil-type flowers . . . . Sodium chlorate, sold under various
brand names such as Drop-Leaf and Oxyleafex-3, is registered for
use on nonoil sunflower only.
“For those growers thinking about using Paraquat on their oiltype flowers, Chevron researchers caution that best results will be
achieved by waiting until fields are below 35 percent moisture before spraying. Premature application could result in significantly
reduced oil percentages and test weights. Yields will also suffer if
the desiccant is sprayed on when moisture levels are excessive.”

Minimizing Harvest Seed Loss / Don Lilleboe — “An initial
step toward keeping sunflower seed loss to a minimum is deciding
when to combine. [NDSU extension ag engineer Vern] Hofman
recommends harvesting when the seed is at 15 to 18 percent moisture if possible. ‘You’re going to get ahead of blackbirds, you’re
going to save more seed, and the seed you do save will easily pay
for the cost of drying that seed down to storable levels,’ he states.
“Steve Winter, Oriska, N.D., sunflower grower, agrees. He
dries his sunflower down to eight and a half or nine percent (realizing that the moisture content can come back up a bit while in storage, but feels that the relative ease of combining at 15 percent
moisture as opposed to 10 percent, plus the reduced seed loss, more
than compensates for the drying expense. Also, Winter adds, one
does not have nearly as much shatter loss due to jostling by wind
and at the header when harvesting at the higher moisture level.”

Two New North Dakota Processing Plants Await Fall Seed
Crop — “Sunflower crushing plants at Enderlin and Velva are
scheduled to start processing this fall. The Velva plant, owned by
Midwest Processing, is capable of crushing 1,000 tons of seed per
day. Its construction is now complete, and test runs were initiated
earlier this summer. The Enderlin facility, owned by National Sun
Industries, is geared to crush 1,500 tons of seed daily. It is still
under construction but is scheduled to begin operating in October.
Recently named officials of the plant include William Sisson, general manager and chief operating officer; William Bartels, plant
manager; David Lutgen, financial controller; and Milt Luchsinger,
sunflower seed buyer.”

Flower Power Enters Second Year of Tests — “Flower
Power, the North Dakota project in which 12 tractors were operated
on sunflower oil/diesel fuel blends under field conditions last year,
is continuing in 1982 — but on a reduced basis. Due to financial
cutbacks and some mechanical problems, only six of the original 12
tractors are in the project this year.
“Three of the tractors operating in 1982 are running on a blend
which includes 25 percent sunflower oil and 75 percent diesel,
while the other three operate on a fifty-fifty blend. . . .
“Nearly 7,000 running hours were accumulated on the 12 tractors participating in the Flower Power project in 1981. Thirty-six
thousand gallons of fuel were used, 13,000 of which were sunflower oil.

30

Housekeeping, Vigilance: Keys to Drying ’Flowers / Don
Lilleboe — “Outside temperature goes hand-in-hand with seed
moisture level when it comes to proper storage of sunflower — but
not everyone pays enough attention to that fact, according to [Ken]
Hellevang, [NDSU extension ag engineer]. He notes that some
growers have stored sunflower at moisture levels considerably
higher than 10 percent and experienced no problems. But, he suggests, those were usually cases in which the seeds were harvested
in near-freezing temperatures and then marketed prior to the spring
warm-up. Wet seeds and warm temperatures don’t mix, he cautions.
“ ‘It’s also important for growers to cool the crop down in the
fall at the same rate that the outside temperature cools,’ Hellevang
adds. ‘If there is a 15 degree difference between the outside temperature and that of the sunflower, one should turn the fans on to
cool the flowers down to that outside temperature.
“ ‘Continue that process until you get them down to about
35°F,’ he continues, stating that there really is no advantage to
cooling the sunflower much below that point.”

Malathion Registration Imminent — “As this issue of The
Sunflower went to press, registration of the insecticide malathion
on stored sunflower seed still looked imminent. The proposed rule
was to be published in the Federal Register in August. If there
were no comments from the public, the final rule was to be published approximately 15 days later. The Sunflower will carry an
update in its October/November issue.”
■

THE SUNFLOWER August/September 2012

www.pioneer.com/sunflower

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